Various types of loose materials are shipped, stored, and otherwise processed and distributed in the form of compressed bales. For example, cotton and recycled paper are processed into compressed bales so that a greater amount of such materials may be stored and shipped in a smaller space. Also, bales are generally easier and more efficient to handle than the loose, bulk material.
When the loose material is compressed into bales, it is generally known to wrap and tie such bales with wire or other elongated binding devices to keep the bales in a compressed form, such as for shipping and storage. Wire is often most preferable as a binding device because of its low cost and the ease with which it is handled. One method of forming a bale directs the compressible material into an automatic baler where it is pressed into a bale by a ram and then moved on a path by the ram through the baler. Continuous wire strands extend across the bale path at different heights on the bale and, as the bale moves through the baler, the wire strands are wrapped around the front end and sides of the bale. For such automatic balers, automatic tying systems are often used to engage the bale and wire strands and tie the wire strands around the bale, such as by twisting together the overlapped ends of the wire strands. Examples of various automatic tying methods are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,120,238; 4,155,296; 4,167,902, and 4,459,904.
While automatic tying methods and apparatuses have proven suitable for baling and tying compressed bales in certain applications, they generally require complex, expensive machinery which has to manipulate the wires and bales together to form and tie the bale. Certain applications require hand splicing or tying of the wires wrapped around a bale in order to reduce the complexities and costs associated with automatic tying mechanisms. Furthermore, the particular material being baled may dictate that hand tying is required, because of the complexities involved in trying to design an automatic tying apparatus.
Hand tying or splicing mechanisms in the prior art have provided a means for splicing or tying two wires together. However, many such devices require that the wires be carefully positioned in the twisting gears or pinions of the mechanisms for proper operation. As will be appreciated, when a baling wire is wrapped around a bale of compressed material, the ends of the wire will have a tendency to extend or jut into various different directions. This is particularly so since the wires are generally under tension from the compressed material. The overlapped wire ends will rarely, if ever, lay side by side to be easily twisted and tied together. Therefore, hand tying a bale has been a two-person operation where one person holds the wire ends together in an overlapped fashion while another person actually twists and ties the overlapped wires. Even if a single person were to attempt the operation, it is very difficult to maintain the wire ends in an overlapped relationship while the ends are twisted together.
To further exacerbate the problem, each bale of material will generally require several wraps and ties of the baling wire or other binding device.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a simple and inexpensive apparatus to assist in tying a wire around a bale rapidly and easily.
It is another objective of the invention to maintain overlapped ends of baling wire together during tying for a proper knot.
It is a further objective of the present invention to simplify the tying process when wrapping a bale of material.
These and other objectives will become more readily apparent from the Summary of the Invention and Detailed Description set forth hereinbelow.